Pork production center

ABSTRACT

A structure for raising animals such as swine in which a plurality of pens or stalls are provided with a passageway providing access thereto. The structure is provided with windowed end walls and a windowed side wall with one side being open providing for natural air circulation. The floor area of the pen area comprises a combination of a solid portion which can be heated and a slatted portion located over a manure collection pit.

United States Patent [.191

Mente et al.

1 1 PORK PRODUCTION CENTER [75] Inventors: Glen Allen Mente; Daniel PaulKraklow; Virgil Albert Schneider, all of Muscatine, Iowa [73] Assignee:Kent Feeds, lnc., Muscatine, Iowa [22] Filed: Aug. 24, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 66,188

[52] U.S. Cl. 119/16, 119/28 [51] Int. Cl A0lk 01/00 [58] Field ofSearch 119/16, 20, 28

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,229,663 1/1966 Conover119/16 3,601,096 8/1971 Rutherford 119/16 3,418,975 12/1968 Smith 119/201 1 Oct. 2, 1973 3,213,828 10/1965 Sorensen M 119/20 1,348,343 8/1920Zimmerman. 119/20 3,181,503 5/1965 Tripp l 119/20 3,556,054 1 /1971Honeggcr ct al. 119/16 3,584,603 6/1971 Rutherford 119/16 PrimaryExaminer-Hugh R. Chamblee Altorney-Pendleton, Neuman, Williams &Anderson [57] ABSTRACT A structure for raising animals such as swine inwhich a plurality of pens or stalls are provided with a passagewayproviding access thereto. The structure is provided with windowed endwalls and a windowed side wall with one side being open providing fornatural air circulation. The floor area of theipen area comprises acombination ofa solid portion which can be heated and a slatted portionlocated over a manure collection pit.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 1 PORK PRODUCTION CENTER This inventionrelates to a hog or swine house.

It is a' principal object of this invention to provide a hog house whichcan be readily constructed and which is particularly conducive to thegrowing, finishing. and management of hogs in a sanitary manner withminimum labor.

A preferred embodiment of the hog house is shown in the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a hog house in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hog house of FIG. 1 showing the sidethereof opposite to that shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a typical transverse elevational section showing a penpartition, a manure collection pit, foot: ing s and floor construction.

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken on line 4'4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the manure col= lection pit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the slatted floor area of a pen.

FIG. 7 is a partial elevational view taken on the line 7'7 of FIG. 6showing details of the slatted floor arrangement.

FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of a particular pen (weighing area) of ahog house.

The hog house illustrated is a building having opposite end walls, bothof which are provided with swing out windows and doors. In theperspective views of FIGS. 1 and 2 one end wall is designated by thenumeral 10 with the window and door thereof being designated by thenumerals 12 and 14, respectively. Side wall 16 of the hog house is alsoprovided with a plural ity of windows 17. The opposite open side 18permits good air circulation through the hog house. A roof 20 issupported on the end walls, side wall 16 and a plural ity of buildingposts 21. The overhang of the roof offers protection from the elementsand reduces the possibility of snow and rain blowing into the pens. Inaddition, the walls and ceiling can be insulated to regulatetemperature. I

The hog house is divided internally by partitions 22 into a plurality ofpens A, B, C and so on which are arranged on one side of a passageway 23which provides access to the pens through swinging gates 25 providedwithrespect to each pen; these gates by double hinging being adapted forswinging in two directions. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG.3, the partitions 22 are comprised of a solid portion 24 which defines aprotected sleeping areafor the animals. A plurality of partition postmembers '26 in conjunction with building posts 21 are utilized tosupport the pen partitions 22. The number of pens can vary as desiredwith the size of the pens being, for example, 6 feet in width and 21feet in length. The width of passageway 23 can suitably be 3 feet,thusproviding a hog house having an overall width of approximately 24feet.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, the floor of the pen area is madeof two solid concrete portions 28a and 28b which slope slightlydownwardly to direct waste into manure collection pit 29. Intermediatethe solid floor portions 28a and 28b is a slatted concrete floor area30. As shown (FIG. 7), the slots comprising the area 30 are in the formof essentially inverted truncated triangles to minimize the possibilityof manure collecting'therebetwee'n. While subject to considerablevariation, overall the pen floor area suitably comprises about 60%slatted area and solid area (280 and 28b) with the spacing betweentheindividual slats being on the' order of one inch at the uppermost:point, this spacing being maintained by means of mortar spots 31 betweeneach slat at the supported end thereof. With a ratio of slatted area to40% solid area a 1 inch slope per 10 feet is satisfactory. However, ifthis ratio is changed to 30% slatted area: solid area a slope of about0.5 inch per foot is preferred.

The comfort and well-being of the hogs is achieved economically byproviding for heating of the solid floor or sleeping area- 28a. This isaccomplished by embedding in the concrete floor area coils through whichheated water is circulated. The heating coils as well asthe requiredboiler and pump system are not illustrated in the drawings inasmuch asthese elements are well known to those skilled in the art.

With respect to the physical needs of the animals, a feed trough 33 isprovided adjacent the end of each pen on the solid floor portion 28b tominimize waste from spillage. Drinking water is supplied through waterpipe 35 to water pan 34 which can be located adjacent to or on the floorslats.

In one particularly preferred embodiment of the'in-.

are modified to form a weighing station. Thus, a ramp 36 leads from penX to scale 38 wherein weighing of the animals is carried out. Afterweighing, the animals are made to descend down ramp 39 into pen Y. Thepath the animals traverse for the weighing operation is indicated by thearrows. A portion of pen Y can be fenced or partitioned as at 40 to forma relatively narrow passageway or alley 41 to facilitate egress of theanimals from the weighing station.

It is to be noted (FIG. 5 that manure collection pit 29 extends beyondthe hog house with a pump out portion 42 being located outside of thehog house to permit access thereto. Also, as seen in FIG. 5 the centerconcrete block partition 43 does not extend completely to the oppositeend of the pit 29 so that manure can be circulated to suspend the solidswhen the pit is being pumped out. I

The numerous advantages of the hog house of this invention will beapparent from the foregoing description. Among its advantages are: (I)low'cost and ease of construction; (2) low maintenance cost; (3) lowlabor requirements since daily cleaning is not necessary and automaticwaterers and self-feeding equipment can be employed; (4) case ofmovement of animals in and out of the hog house; (5) naturalventilationminimizes odors; (6) cleanliness of pigs is achieved by virtue of theratio of slatted floor to solid floor area; (7) heated floor sleepingareas eliminate requirement for bedding; and (8) liquid manurecollection system reduces manure handling and maintains fertilizingproperties thereof.

Those modifications and equivalents which fall within the spirit of theinvention are to be considered a part thereof. 1

What is claimed is:

1. An animal house for growing'and finishing hogs comprising incombination a roof,

a pair of windowed end walls,

a substantially open side wall, a plurality of partitions within saidhouse defining a plurality of pens which extend along the substantiallyopen side wall, at least a portion of said partitions being of solidconstruction to define a relatively draft-free hog sleeping area,

a side wall opposite substantially open side wall having a plurality ofwindows therein with the bottom of said windows being located in ahorizontal plane not substantially lower than the horizontal plane asecond substantially horizontally disposed portion of the floor area ofeach pen being slatted with said slatted floor area being entirelydisposed over a deep collection pit which extends beyond the confines ofthe animal house,

a feed trough adjacent to or on the slatted floor portion of each ofsaid pens but spaced from said hog sleeping area, and

a water trough located adjacent to or on the slatted floor portion ofeach of said pens but spaced from said hog sleeping area.

2. An animal house in accordance with claim 1, wherein there is disposedwithin one of said pens a scale, a ramp leading from said scale and asecond ramp leading from an adjacent pen to said scale.

3. An animal house in accordance with claim 1 wherein there is a doublehinged gate attached to each of said pens.

1. An animal house for growing and finishing hogs comprising incombination a roof, a pair of windowed end walls, a substantially oPenside wall, a plurality of partitions within said house defining aplurality of pens which extend along the substantially open side wall,at least a portion of said partitions being of solid construction todefine a relatively draft-free hog sleeping area, a side wall oppositesubstantially open side wall having a plurality of windows therein withthe bottom of said windows being located in a horizontal plane notsubstantially lower than the horizontal plane intersecting the upper endof said pen-defining partitions, a passageway extending longitudinallywithin said house adjacent the side wall having a plurality of windowstherein, a solid sloped portion ranging from about 40 to 70% of thefloor area of each pen having embedded therein coils for circulation ofwater with said solid sloped portion defining the floor area of the hogsleeping area, a second substantially horizontally disposed portion ofthe floor area of each pen being slatted with said slatted floor areabeing entirely disposed over a deep collection pit which extends beyondthe confines of the animal house, a feed trough adjacent to or on theslatted floor portion of each of said pens but spaced from said hogsleeping area, and a water trough located adjacent to or on the slattedfloor portion of each of said pens but spaced from said hog sleepingarea.
 2. An animal house in accordance with claim 1, wherein there isdisposed within one of said pens a scale, a ramp leading from said scaleand a second ramp leading from an adjacent pen to said scale.
 3. Ananimal house in accordance with claim 1 wherein there is a double hingedgate attached to each of said pens.